The Native Elder Research Center (NERC) is organized in terms of 4 Core components: an Administrative Core (Core A), a Community Liaison Core (Core B), an Investigator Development Core (Core C), and a Measurement and Methods Core (Core D). The Community Liaison Core provides varying levels of direction and support, both day-to-day and long-term, to each of the other cores in facilitating their linkage to the primary constituents of the NERC/RCMAR. The specific aims of this Core are to: 1) employ and expand community partnerships to facilitate the planning, conduct, and dissemination of high quality research that holds promise for reducing the differential in health status and access to care that separate Native and non-Native elders; 2) transfer the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes to Native and non-Native Investigators to enable them to build and maintain their own working relationships with the same or similar community partners; 3) bring community partners more fully into the process of selecting questions for study, of framing the nature of the research designs, of assisting with the identification and operationalization ofkey constructs, and of collecting relevant data; 4) develop and improve upon mechanisms for disseminating the results of research at the interface of health, aging, and culture, so that there is a greater likelihood of more immediate application for the benefit of the local populace, and 5) demonstrate that scientific merit, applicability of research, and subsequent advocacy are not mutually exclusive, but rather can be combined in a synergistic fashion that enhances the value of each.